1971 Copa Libertadores

1971 Copa Libertadores

1971 Copa Libertadores de América 1971 Copa Libertadores da América
Tournament details
Dates	February 13 - June 9
Teams	21 (from 10 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	Nacional (1st title)
Runners-up	Estudiantes
Tournament statistics
Matches played	75
Goals scored	195 (2.6 per match)
Top scorer	Luis Artime (10 goals)
← 1970 1972 →

The Copa Libertadores 1971 was the 12th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. Nacional won the competition, defeating in the final the defending champions Estudiantes, who were seeking a fourth consecutive title.

Qualified teams

Country	Team	Qualify method
CONMEBOL (1 berth)	Estudiantes	1970 Copa Libertadores champion
Argentina 2 berths	Boca Juniors	1970 National Championship winners
	Rosario Central	1970 National Championship winners
Bolivia 2 berths	Chaco Petrolero	1970 Bolivian Primera División winners
	The Strongest	1970 Bolivian Primera División runners-up
Brazil 2 berths	Fluminense	1970 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A winners
	Palmeiras	1970 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runners-up
Chile 2 berths	Colo-Colo	1970 Primera División winners
	Unión Española	1970 Primera División runners-up
Colombia 2 berths	Deportivo Cali	1970 Campeonato Profesional winners
	Junior	1970 Campeonato Profesional runners-up
Ecuador 2 berths	Barcelona	1970 Ecuadorian Serie A winners
	Emelec	1970 Ecuadorian Serie A runners-up
Paraguay 2 berths	Cerro Porteño	1970 Primera División winners
	Guaraní	1970 Primera División runners-up
Peru 2 berths	Sporting Cristal	1970 Torneo Descentralizado winners
	Universitario	1970 Torneo Descentralizado runners-up
Uruguay 2 berths	Nacional	1970 Primera División winners
	Peñarol	1970 Primera División runners-up
Venezuela 2 berths	Deportivo Galicia	1970 Venezuelan Primera División winners
	Deportivo Italia	1970 Venezuelan Primera División runners-up

Draw

The champions and runners-up of each football association were drawn into the same group along with another football association's participating teams. Three clubs from Argentina competed as Estudiantes was champion of the 1970 Copa Libertadores. They entered the tournament in the Semifinals.

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5
Argentina Peru	Bolivia Uruguay	Brazil Venezuela	Chile Paraguay	Colombia Ecuador

Group Stage

Group 1

Players from Sporting Cristal and Universitario before their match. From left to right: Eloy Campos, Luis Cruzado, Orlando de la Torre, Pedro González and José del Castillo

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		UNI	ROS	BOC	CRI
1	Universitario	6	3	3	0	8	4	+4	9	Qualified to the Semifinals			3–2	0–0	3–0
2	Rosario Central	6	3	1	2	11	8	+3	7			2–2		w.o.	4–0
3	Boca Juniors	6	1	2	3	4	5	−1	4			w.o.	2–1		2–2
4	Sporting Cristal	6	1	2	3	5	11	−6	4			0–0	1–2	2–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

• The match between Boca Juniors and Sporting Cristobal on the 17th of March was abandoned after fighting resulted in three players being injured and sixteen arrested by police. Boca were removed from the competition, with their next two opponents receiving walk-over victories.^[1]

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		NAC	PEÑ	CHA	STR
1	Nacional	6	5	1	0	14	2	+12	11	Qualified to the Semifinals			2–1	3–0	5–0
2	Peñarol	6	3	1	2	14	6	+8	7			0–2		1–0	9–0
3	Chaco Petrolero	6	1	1	4	5	9	−4	3			0–1	1–1		1–2
4	The Strongest	6	1	1	4	5	21	−16	3			1–1	1–2	1–3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		PAL	FLU	ITA	GAL
1	Palmeiras	6	5	0	1	13	5	+8	10	Qualified to the Semifinals			0–2	1–0	3–0
2	Fluminense	6	4	0	2	16	6	+10	8			1–3		0–1	4–1
3	Deportivo Italia	6	2	1	3	7	15	−8	5			0–3	0–6		3–2
4	Deportivo Galicia	6	0	1	5	9	19	−10	1			2–3	1–3	3–3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		UES	COL	CER	GUA
1	Unión Española	6	2	3	1	7	6	+1	7	Qualified to the Semifinals			1–1	0–0	2–1
2	Colo-Colo	6	1	4	1	5	5	0	6			1–2		1–0	3–2
3	Cerro Porteño	6	2	2	2	6	7	−1	6			2–1	0–0		1–1
4	Guaraní	6	1	3	2	9	9	0	5			1–1	2–0	2–2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 5

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		BAR	EME	CAL	JUN
1	Barcelona	6	3	1	2	8	6	+2	7	Qualified to the Semifinals			0–1	1–0	3–1
2	Emelec	6	2	3	1	6	4	+2	7			1–1		3–1	1–1
3	Deportivo Cali	6	3	0	3	8	7	+1	6			3–1	1–0		2–0
4	Junior	6	1	2	3	4	9	−5	4			0–2	0–0	2–1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Tiebreaker

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Barcelona	3–0	Emelec

Semifinals

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		NAC	PAL	UNI
1	Nacional	4	3	1	0	9	1	+8	7	Qualified to the Final			3–1	3–0
2	Palmeiras	4	2	0	2	6	7	−1	4			0–3		3–0
3	Universitario	4	0	1	3	1	8	−7	1			0–0	1–2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		EST	BAR	UES
1	Estudiantes	4	3	0	1	4	2	+2	6	Qualified to the Final			0–1	2–1
2	Barcelona	4	2	0	2	3	4	−1	4			0–1		1–0
3	Unión Española	4	1	0	3	4	5	−1	2			0–1	3–1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Finals

Main article: 1971 Copa Libertadores Finals

May 26, 1971

Estudiantes	1 – 0	Nacional

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June 2, 1971

Nacional	1 – 0	Estudiantes

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Replay match at Estadio Nacional (Lima, Peru)

June 9, 1971

Nacional	2 – 0	Estudiantes

Estadio Nacional, Peru

Champion

Copa Libertadores 1971 Champions
Nacional First Title

See also

• Little Maracanazo

References

1. Williamson, Dan. "The day 19 players were sent off when Boca Juniors played Sporting Cristal". thesefootballtimes. Retrieved 19 January 2026.

External links

• Match results at CONMEBOL's website (In Spanish)
  • In English
• Match result at RSSSF's website